Combined car head-rest and table



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheetl. B. C. DONAHUE.

COMBINED GAR HEAD REST AND TABLE.

No. 366,766. Patented July 19, 1687.

if WWA@ (No Model.) 2 Sheet--fSheet 2.

B. C. DGNAHUB.

COMBINED GAE HEAD EEST AND TABLE.

N0. 366,766. Patented July 19, l1887.

Z v 53.3 Y Z; 7 o \W ,NA TW 6 1 lINiTnn STATES BERNARD C. DONAHUE,

PATENT Orrrcn..

OF PORTLAND, MAINE.

COMBINED CAR HEAD-REST AND TABLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 365,766, dated July 19, 1887.

.Application tiled February 4, 18S?. Serial No. 296,603. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BERNARD C. DONAHUE, of Portland, in the county of Cumberland and State of Maine, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in a Combined Car Head- Rest and Table; and I do hereby declare that the following is afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this speeiiication.

Figure lis a front elevation of my invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of my ear head-rest and table as closed and folded into side of car. Fig. 3 is a transverse closed plan of same, showing also tops of backs of car-seats. Fig. 4 is a vertical section ot part of canwall, seat-back, and head-rest opened and in position on seat as head-rest. Fig. 5 is a section through headrest and seat opened. Fig. Gis a view of headi rest turned down and opened and in position as a table. Fig. 7 is a vertical section of the same. Fig. 8 is a cross-section of same, showing table and head-rest.

Same letters refer to like parts.

My invention relates to improvements in combined car head-rest and table by which a head-rest and a table can be provided for the convenience of passengers. It may be thus de scribed.

In the wall ofa railwaycar, in that part of the same which is between two adjacent carwindows, I make a recess, a, into which I tit the two drops Z) b. The car-windows are represented by c c. rlhese two drops Z) b arehinged at d, and are so arranged as to drop down upon the backs eof two adjacent car-seats. On the inner and upper sides of these drops bis a cushion,f, on which the head ofthe sitter in the carseat may rest when my device is used as a head-rest.

Of course it will be plain that when two seats are back to back both drops may be used, when two seats are face to face neither drop is used, and when the seats face in the same direction one drop in each recess only can be used.

\Vhen my device is used as a headsrest, the

two lids Zand m are not unfolded,and the cushion is uppermost to receive the head ot' the sitter, as in Fig. 4.

Vhen the drops b b are placed in the recess a and not in use, they are locked or secured to the top of the recess a by the catch or bolt g, which catches or runs into a socket in the top of recess a in the ordinary manner of a spring and bolt, and are thus held firmly into their recess. The bolt g turns on a pivot, when the drop is turned down from its recess and drops into a hole, n, in the back of the seat when my device is used as a head-rest, thus securing the head-rest to the back of the seat. rlhe hole or socket u has inserted in its mouth a circular piece of rubber having a hole through it, through which the bolt y passes, but which when the bolt is withdrawn closes up by its elastic force the mouth of the socket, so that nothing can enter. These drops b b, I also employ for the purpose of being turned into a table to extend outbetwcen two seats so turned as to face each other in the manner that ordidary car-seats are capable of being turned. It is plain, also, that the same use may be made of these drops between two revolving chairs of a parlor-car.

When the drops b b are to be usedas a table, they are uni'astened and brought down to a horizontal position, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7. Each drop b is composed of two lids, Z and m, as shown in Fig. 6, unitedl by the hinges 7.a. Vhen thus used, the cushion is turned under and two smooth surfaces given for the table. h shows legs, which may be either on the surface or recessed into the drops Z) b. These legs are pivoted at 15 and temporarily fastened at j, so that when the drops are turned down as a table the legs are turned on the pivot t' to a vertical position, and, fitting into an indentation, o, in the iioor of the car, serve as a support for the table, as shown in Fig. 7.

In some cars as now made having very high-backed seats the drops hinged at d, so as to formlthe head-rest, would bring the table too high for convenience. In this case I would have the drop capble of being let down at d to a convenient height by means of any ordinary contrivanee. In place of the standard h, it

preferred, I would use a bracket or brace, one end set in the side of the car-wall and the oth er supporting the table. y Y

I do not claim, broadly, a head-restcapable of being turned up against the side of a car, but one whose essential elements are its capability of being folded into the side of a car-wall, so as to then form with its outer-face a part of the car-wall symmetrical with the wall and practically indistinguishable therefrom, and its capability of being turned down and attached to the top of a car-seat, so as to form, asitwere, a symmetrical extension of the seat, all substantially as set forth.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to l secure by Letters Patent of the United States,

1. The drop b, hinged at d, fitting into the recess ain a car-wall, having the eushionj" fastened at the top when closed by the bolt g,

and capable of being dropped down tothe top of the back e of a railway-car seat, to which it is secured by the bolt g, for the purpose of 

